TV cameras will be focused on seafood from the Gulf of Mexico this week on one of cable’s most popular competitive cooking shows, Top Chef.

One of New Orleans’ own top chefs, John Besh, will be among the judges on this episode of the Emmy-winning program, which premieres tonight at 10 p.m. EST on Bravo. Besh is the chef-proprietor of the New Orleans restaurant August, among others in his Besh Restaurant Group.

Besh says the show is giving the Gulf Coast the opportunity to showcase its seafood, which he says is safe to eat, and the best tasting on the market today. Among the other judges on the show will be Paula Deen.

The Gulf Coast fishing industry has of course been rocked by the massive oil spill of last summer, and has been battling the perception that its seafood is tainted ever since.

The show will benefit the Greater New Orleans Foundation's Gulf Coast Oil Spill fund, which has raised more than $1 million to help families affected by the spill and to address environmental concerns.

Posted:Feb. 23, 2011
by FoodChannel EditorTagline:“The primary requisite for writing well about food is a good appetite.” --A. J. Liebling